About the Analytical Science Community

Zoë has spent the last four years working in the water industry and represents UK interests in environmental monitoring through her British Standards Institute work.

She studied Forensic Science (BSc) at Nottingham Trent University before moving on to complete an MSc in Analytical Science at the University of Warwick. She completed her PhD in the development of novel diamond-based electrochemical sensors for analytical applications in 2017, going on to complete a 12-month Research Fellow position at the University of Warwick, funded by the prestigious Royal Society Innovation Award.

In addition to her role as Honorary Secretary, Zoë is also the Editor of Analytical Matters (the quarterly member newsletter of the Analytical Division) and has previously been the chair of the Analytical Science Network (early career) and was the publicity officer for both the Analytical Methods Committee and the Community for Analytical Measurement Science for several years. 

Zoë is also passionate about the communication of analytical science, having hosted the Schools’ Analyst Competition at the University of Warwick, having written several science communication articles for magazines and currently being on the #RSCPoster Twitter competition Scientific Committee. She is also passionate about improving Diversity and Inclusion in the chemical sciences, working on a range of initiatives to improve representation.

In 2009 he transferred to the Clitheroe site, which manufactures catalysts for the oil and gas industries, such as methanol, ammonia and hydrogen. His first role was as Analytical Services Manager, being responsible for the site’s laboratories and the analytical chemists. In 2014, he took the role of Product Technical Manager and is responsible for the steam reforming and gas to liquid products; and a small team of plant chemists.

Ian currently provides technical support to our methanol and water gas shift catalysts. He is the principal chemist on a major plant asset replacement project. He lead projects on chemical safety, statistical process control, manufacturing core development training, and quality management systems.

He is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, a Chartered Chemist, Chartered Scientist, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He gained an Honours Degree in Chemistry and Ph.D. in Catalysis from the University of Nottingham.

Outside of work he enjoys snowboarding in the European mountains, cycling in the Forest of Bowland, playing badminton in the local leagues, and playing squash with friends. When travelling he enjoys cityscape photography. At home he enjoys learning to cook new recipes, listening to comedy and educational Podcasts, and watching films and crime dramas.

Since 2019 Jonathan works at Genedata, a leading provider of MS software solutions to the biopharmaceutical industry.

Jonathan has been a Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry for over 20 years, achieving Charted Chemist status in 2011 and shortly thereafter Chartered Scientist. Jonathan holds an honorary Associate Professor position with Swansea University’s Medical School, and in 2018 became an elected member to the British Mass Spectrometry Society, becoming its Publicity Officer in 2020. Jonathan’s life motto is “Science is my rock n’ roll’!”.

Vicky is a graduate of Environmental Chemistry from Edinburgh University. In 2012, she gained her PhD in measurement and predictive modelling of contaminant dispersion in indoor air and in 2014, a PGCHE at London South Bank University (LSBU).

During her time at LSBU she developed portable detectors of airborne pollutants and drug contaminants in drinks. Her research activities ranged from detection and dispersion modelling of drug contamination in surface waters to hazardous gas emissions in nuclear fuel reprocessing.  She gained a Pexa award for her paper on the dispersion of hydrocarbon vapours in ventilated air.

Vicky has contributed book chapters in ‘Drug Use and Misuse’ and ‘Environmental Forensics’ published by the RSC. She is a fellow of the HEA and member of the London Toxicology Group. Prior to LSBU, Vicky worked as a Food Health and Safety Scientist for Camden BRI (formerly Brewing Research International), Procter and Gamble, Institute of Terrestrial Ecology (NERC) and Valentine Paints.

Over the past 15 years, Claire has progressed at Selden from QC Technician, through to Development Chemist, Analytical Chemist and GLP Study Director.

Having always had a passion for Chemistry, this was strengthened during her Nuffield Bursary Placement at the age of 16 where she developed and validated a method for water determination using Karl Fischer. However her real interest was chromatography and this is where she devoted the majority of the rest of her time at BMS.

Claire has an exciting and varied role at Selden. After creating the new GLP-accredited analytical laboratory, as Study Director, she spends her time planning and reviewing studies for the analysis of biocidal products. This also involves supporting analytical method development activities on various chromatography equipment.

Other aspects of Claire's role at Selden include research into novel disinfection techniques and formula development for products such as laundry liquid and dishwasher detergents. In addition to further expanding her skills by participating in social media marketing. Whilst maintaining her role, Claire supports QC technicians and process operatives as well as providing technical customer support.

As a keen member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Claire recently achieved Chartered Chemist and actively encourages others in personal and professional development by offering training opportunities, hosting her Nuffield placements and visiting local schools and groups as a STEM ambassador. Outside of work, you will often find Claire creating science experiment YouTube videos with her son or releasing the stresses of the day at the local climbing gym.

She has published over 140 peer reviewed publications and has filed 5 patents. She has been awarded over £20M in funding as principal and co-investigator from EPSRC, BBSRC, charities, industry and governmental bodies.

Her Groups research has been recognised through multiple awards including the Nexxus Young Life Scientist of the Year Award (2009), Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Joseph Black Award (2013), Craver Award (2016) and Charles Mann Award (2019).

Karen is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2012), the Society for Applied Spectroscopy (2017) and the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2018). She has been named as one of the Top 50 Women in Analytical Science (2016), Top 10 Spectroscopist (2017) and Top 100 Influential Analytical Scientists (2019) by The Analytical Scientist. She serves on the editorial board for Analyst and RSC Advances and is the current Chair of the Infrared and Raman Discussion Group (IRDG).

Since 2009, he has led the Environmental & Forensic Chemistry group at King’s College London. His research focuses on the development of new, defensible strategies, technologies and methodologies to assist in the early discovery, effects and response to pollution, new/emerging contaminants, security threats, and wildlife crime.

His expertise lies in analytical chemistry, particularly in separation science, mass spectrometry, and machine learning for applications in environmental, forensic and biological systems analysis, and has published more than 70 peer-reviewed journal articles to date.

He sits on the editorial board of Science & Justice, Journal of the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences, and from 2011-2014 was its Editor in Chief. He is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He also sits on the committees of the RSC Separation Science Group and the London Biological Mass Spectrometry Discussion Group.

He has published over 100 peer-reviewed publications and filed two patents. He has been awarded funding as Principal and Co-Investigator from the Engineering and Physical Research Council (EPSRC), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and charities. The research conducted by his team has led to recognition through being awarded the GlaxoSmithKline Emerging Scientist Award in 2013 and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Science Award in 2015 and various university awards for teaching excellence.

Professor Bhavik is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Academy of Education. He has a strong advocate of equality and diversity, playing a key role in helping his university secure a bronze award for the Race Equality Charter in 2019.

He has given presentations, developed resources, and participated in panels to highlight challenges associated with race equality in analytical chemistry. He is a STEM ambassador and runs RSC outreach activities as well as established a Saturday Chemistry Club focusing on real-life applications of analytical chemistry, where attendees get hands-on experience on analytical instrumentation.

Caroline's interest in analytical science was sparked by undertaking a year in industry as part of my Biomedical Sciences BSc where Caroline was an analyst at the Drug Control Centre (the UK’s only Anti-Doping laboratory). Working in an ISO accredited laboratory gave Caroline a solid understanding of high-quality analytical science, and in particular mass spectrometry.

Caroline holds a PhD in Analytical Toxicology from King's College London which focused on the evaluating the usefulness of latent fingerprints in the detection of illicit drugs. Following this, Caroline took on a Teaching Fellow post on the Analytical Toxicology MSc at King’s College London. Additional experience includes being involved in sustainability committees at King’s Forensics and NPL where Caroline focused on making laboratory work more sustainable by introducing the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework.

She received both a MChem in Chemistry with Industrial experience (2016) and a PhD in Chemistry (2021) from The University of Manchester. Emily is also the current secretary of the Analytical Science Network (ASN) and the Analytical Science Community's early career representative. 

At WASC he leads the delivery of various activities, including a seedcorn access scheme allowing free instrument access to external students, organising training/networking events for research technical professionals and one-day workshops on analytical science techniques aimed at PhD students.

Chris has a varied background in both industry and academia, first gaining an MChem from Liverpool, followed by a year at Unilever, and then a PhD in Polymer Chemistry from Warwick in 2015. He then moved to KAUST, Saudi Arabia where he was a Research Fellow and then an Associate Research Scientist for Dow Saudi Arabia, responsible for research and technical support projects for the buildings and infrastructure business functions. He then moved back to Warwick in 2019 as Research Technician before starting his current role in 2021.

Chris is also chair of the RSC Analytical Methods Committee (AMC) and a member of the RSC Birmingham and West Midlands local section.

Professor Gachanja obtained a degree in Chemistry (Bachelor of Science) from the University of Nairobi in 1982, Masters in Analytical Science and PhD in Chemistry from University of Hull in 1983 and 1991.  He then proceeded for a 3-year postdoctoral research at the University of Plymouth. He is currently a Professor in Analytical and Environmental Chemistry at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in Kenya.  

Upon his return to Africa in the nineties, he engaged in efforts to enhance analysis skills in chemistry, starting with development of Curricula in Analytical Chemistry at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology which has been replicated in other universities within the region. He has actively engaged government bodies and private sector (industry) offering Analytical and Instrumental skills.

He is involved in environmental research, in particular in use of separation techniques and mass spectrometry for analysis of environmental matrices.

He is passionate about the development of Analytical skills in Africa with a strong belief that chemical analytical skills are key and vital for both the developed and developing economies.